Slamming their way through the season with a record of 4-4 and finishing third in the Rio Hondo League, Girls Tennis served its way into C.I.F., beating Saugus High School in the first round before losing to the Arcadia Apaches in the second.
For the sixth year in a row, Girl’s Tennis has made C.I.F., beating out Monrovia and South Pasadena, to earn third place in league and an automatic bid in C.I.F. However, this is the first time in the last six years that they have made it past the wild card game, advancing to the second round.
Because tennis is a fall sport, there is less time for training before the season begins. Being in top condition and fine-tuning one’s skills during practices are necessary before the season begins. The team’s mental toughness fueled the ride all the way past the first game of finals against Saugus, a team girls tennis had not played before. Temple City had the home court advantage against Saugus, who came all the way from Santa Clarita.
“We were a little nervous,” Coach Savay Lieu said. “We didn’t really know anything about our competition.”
However, the same fuel that drove them there left the team stranded in their loss to Arcadia.
Though it was disappointing, the second round loss was not a surprise because Arcadia, a strong team, finished in second place for C.I.F.
“It wasn’t really an unexpected loss,” Huang said. “We’ve played them before and we already knew that they’re a lot better than us.”
Although tennis is mainly an individual sport, one factor to the team’s overall success is how well each girl gets along with her teammates, encouraging each other on and offering unselfish moral support.
“We all get along together, we just work really well together,” Huang said. “The thing about our team is we are always cheering each other on, helping each other get through tight points and stuff. It’s what makes our team more special.”
After 13 years of coaching tennis, Coach Lieu will retire after this season. Rest assured, he will continue to teach Freshman and Sophomore English classes.
“I’m glad for the free time that I can devote to my classroom,” Coach Lieu said. “On the negative side, tennis has always been a highlight for me at the end of the day to be out there with the athletes and students and is overwhelmingly enjoyable to do. I’ll miss the interaction with the students.”
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